The “Cash for Clunkers” bill,
passed by Senate on June 18,
has a catchy name and to many,
it sounds like a good idea for
helping Detroit and stimulating
the economy. Unfortunately,
when you take a closer look,
it quickly becomes apparent
that passage of this bill will
create more problems than it
solves. For that reason, the
United Recyclers Group (URG)
opposes the Cash for Clunkers
bill because it contains clauses
that will remove auto parts
and components such as engines
and drive train parts from the
inventories used by millions
of middle class Americans to
repair their cars.

“The Cash for Clunkers bill
is supposed to help Detroit
sell more cars,” said Michelle
Alexander, executive director
of URG, but she added that “any
gains made by the Big Three
as a result of this bill will
come at the expense of many
regular people who are just
trying to keep their cars running
and cope with the current weak
economy.” She continued, “the
auto recycling industry will
feel the pain almost immediately,
because our supply of auto parts
will decline, and that means
prices will climb and the cost
of auto repairs nationwide will
be driven upwards. Surely that
isn’t what congress wants to
happen.”

“The inspiration for Cash for
Clunkers is coming from overseas,”
said John Fischl, president
of Riteway Auto Parts, and a
URG manager. “Driving a car
is more of a privilege in Europe
than it is in America, and the
Europeans take measures to keep
any car more than a few years
old off the road. In Europe
cars are completely recycled
after a few years, whereas here
in America we have a different
process, reusing many parts
from a car being scrapped, and
recycling what remains.”

Fischl continued, “By stipulating
that engines and drive trains
cannot be resold, Cash for Clunkers
will negatively impact the supply
chain for these part categories.
As the inventory of these targeted
used parts available for repairs
declines and then disappears,
many Americans who depend on
cost-effective repairs and cannot
afford a new car may be forced
to go without their transportation!”

“The average Joe is going to
be hurt by the Cash for Clunkers
bill because it will remove
the average cars they drive
from the road” said Bill Abold
Jr., owner of A&P Auto Parts.
He runs an auto parts business
and an auto salvage operation,
and sells both new and used
parts, so he sees both sides
of the issues. He said that
“A lot of people simply can’t
afford to repair their cars
using new parts. They certainly
can’t afford to buy a new car
right now, even with a federal
voucher for a few thousand dollars.
So if these millions of middle
class Americans can’t afford
to fix their cars or buy a new
one, where does that leave them?
If it passes I predict that
this bill will have many unintended
negative consequences.”

Desperate to keep afloat, the
Big Three auto manufacturers
and labor unions are pushing
hard to get a version of this
bill passed. “The environmental
costs of new parts manufacturing
are far higher than the use
of green parts, which are reused,”
said Richard Filley, executive
director of the GreenCARR Foundation,
a not-for-profit organization
promoting the use of green auto
parts, green automobile usage
and green auto industry practices
such as recycling. Filley said
that, Cash For Clunkers runs
roughshod over the environment
by removing earth-friendly green
parts from the supply chain
and replacing them with new
parts and new cars made at a
high cost to the environment,
in terms of the energy used,
increased CO2 carbon emissions,
natural resources consumed and
more. Cash for Clunkers is clever
marketing but bad for consumers.”